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This is a product-based course focused on the development and improvement of effective pitch decks. The course targets aspiring and early stage entrepreneurs. The course lasts 15 days although users can work ahead to complete tasks.

Participants will be active learners in applying basic skills and core principles of entrepreneurship within a simulated environment involving participants (CEOs and Investors). All users initially review resources outlining best practices in entrepreneurship.

All participants in this course will receive three sample pitch deck formats in PPT format which can be altered by each user to create his/her own pitch deck in the future. Additionally each particpant will receive three real pitch decks used by real companies which provide models for each of the key slides which make up a pitch deck.

Users joining this course as CEOs will put these principles and resources into action by developing a pitch deck to summarize the key components of their business. CEO's can create a pitch deck for their own business, an existing business, or a fictional/aspirational business. These components can be used in real life for real-world pitches to angel investors, or further developed into pieces of a business plan.

As the course develops, CEOs will be asked to respond (in writing) to various questions posted by fictional angel investors. Investors and CEOs will be able to evaluate and give feedback to each other based on these answers. CEOs will be assessed via:

The development of a successful pitch deck according to best practices,

The quality of the products they produce, within a dynamic real-world environment with changing news articles to encourage adjustments

Pre/Post assessments

Assignments and reflections shared with the instructor and/or the entire simulation.

Investors learn entrepreneurial skills and are assessed on their understanding of content through:

Giving feedback on the quality of CEO’s responses through buying/selling shares and direct written feedback.

Pre/Post assessments

Assignments and reflections shared with the instructor and/or the entire simulation.

This is a participatory course where we work together to provide feedback and ideas both collectively and individually. The goal is real world improvement through class interactions that go beyond "student-to-instructor" and instead are "student-to-class" Feedback is respectful according to detailed norms. Users should expect to hear different points of view and opinions. Users are not obligated to make any changes, but by seeking to understand different perspectives and considering potential adjustments, each user will leave the course with an advanced understanding.

All participants will have access and should download the three pitch decks from real companies which serve as beginning models.

CEOs/Innovators will be expected to create and share their own pitch deck slides, according to course directions. All users are expected to share questions within the simulation to help improve the group's understanding. Investors will have specialized assignments targeting feedback towards specific aspects the CEO's pitch decks.

Assignments and due dates are detailed in the syllabus. Users are expected to share questions within the simulation to help improve the group's understanding.

The course lasts 15 days although users can work ahead to complete tasks. There are no mandatory daily expectations for this course. The development of the pitch deck slides, and the feedback of them, will occur in intervals of 2-3 days. These intervals are outlined in the syllabus. Given the dynamic nature of the course includes news articles and frequent updates and adjustments, encourages users to login periodically to experience the dynamic environment.

At the end of this course, all users will:

Strengthen entrepreneurial problem-solving skills by:

Evaluate other CEOs' ideas and abilities to develop business ideas according to best practices in entrepreneurship.

Demonstrate an understanding of current events news stories, and the effect those articles will have on specific businesses.

Strengthen skills in proactively seeking feedback from other participants.

Assess feedback from the instructor and peers, and evaluate feedback to use in making potential improvements.

Understand the purpose of a stock market and how a stock market functions.

CEOs/Innovators learn entrepreneurial skills and are assessed on their understanding of content through:

The development of a successful pitch deck according to best practices,

The products they produce, within a dynamic real-world environment with changing news articles to encourage adjustments.

Pre/Post assessments

Assignments and reflections shared with the instructor and/or the entire simulation.

Investors learn entrepreneurial skills and are assessed on their understanding of content through:

Giving feedback on the quality of CEO’s responses through buying/selling shares and direct written feedback.

Pre/Post assessments

Assignments and reflections shared with the instructor and/or the entire simulation.

Learning should be fun and relevant.

Our interactive, dynamic environment keeps learning active for instructors and students, allowing customizations and adaptations along the way to target specific skills at specific levels of complexity.

Most importantly, our learning platform transforms learning from the traditional… to the real world.

Students finish our courses with tangible experience, taking action and creating products they can use in the future. Additionally, they have the opportunity to receive feedback on what they create from a variety of users - helping to fine-tune the quality and message.

Learning is more than summarizing content understanding. It is demonstrated by how effectively we can apply that content into a tangible product that is valued by others. That’s how learning is in the real world, and we think it’s time online learning took a big step in that direction.

If you are an instructor, and interested in offering a course using our platform, reach out and learn more.

This course is led by simCEO creator Derek Luebbe and partner Christie Mckee. Both have over 20 years experience in education in multple levels and in multiple roles.

Innovators share their solutions and products. Within our courses, each innovator is seen as the CEO of his/her own company, and given a four-letter Ticker Symbol. These companies create a Course Stock Market. The innovator/CEO tries to maximize his/her share price by producing and refining high quality solutions and products. Innovators finish a course with tangible products that have benefited from the feedback of peers and the instructor.

Investors, including coaches, mentors and aspiring entrepreneurs, judge the quality of solutions shared by Innovators. Investors do not complete assignments to create a company within the stock market, but they do complete assignments to give feedback to innovators' solutions. The Investor tries to maximize his/her portfolio by recognizing quality solutions.

NOTE: A "company" in this sense does not necessarily mean a business. In simCEO, a "company" is best defined as the collection of assignments from each innovator/CEO which can solve a specific real-world challenges. See examples below.

Course

Sample assignments which could represent a simCEO company.

Marketing

Define the target demographic for an existing company or a new company you wish to start.

Create a value proposition for your chosen (own) company.

Create an online marketing strategy for your chosen (own) company and share the reasons for your choices to fellow investors.

Food & Nutrition

Create a dietary plan for a member of your family.

If you could spend $100,000 to improve food and nutrition of residents of San Diego, what topic(s) would you focus on and what what would you do?

Environmental Systems

Your city has awarded $1,000,000 in grant money to improve the city's Environmental Report Card over the next 10 years. Using the criteria and strategies in Chapter 6 and 7, select one topic and create a proposal for the City Council.

Creating an Effective Pitch Deck

Create two PPT slides of a Pitch Deck which communicates the problem which exists and how your company plans to solve it.

Create a PPT slide which details the company's revenue streams for the next 4 years.

Create one PPT slide which highlights the skills of the current team members, and identifies the next positions you wish to add.

The result of this is a natural feedback loop within an authentic environment. So, no matter what your final result in the stock market, our courses provide plenty of feedback to improve your ideas and your products, maximizing a new model in social learning.

Courses move beyond content recall and multiple choice, and allow students to create and adapt with real-world conditions.

Join a simCEO course and take learning to the next level.

NOTE: "Investors" in simCEO are not necessarily actual individuals investing real money. They are fellow learners who are joining the simulated course environment as an investor to learn more about the chosen course by evaluating the solutions of other Innovators/CEOs. This is not an investment platform. This is a learning platform that uses an interactive stock market to provide a real world environment that encourages high-quality work and natural social feedback.